This weekend, the software company 1st PLACE who created IA, is having a commemorative event called "KEEP HAVING FUN!", in which they will celebrate her birthday. Bandai Namco's Taiko j the fun as well!

Another short post followed the one about March's Donchare and it's about the Original Soundtrack album's signature song, Sotsu Omeshiki. To commemorate the release of the album, this song will be unlocked to all players, Banapassport or not, from March 1st to March 31st 2014, even if you do not have enough Don Points to get the song.

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

After the successful result of a petition for the distribution of an updated Taiko machine outside Japan, several units of the third-generation cabinets were finally shipped to Taiwan in late January 2014, featuring the most current firmware used in Japan. This is the first Taiko arcade to be officially exported outside the country after the Asian versions of Taiko 11 and 12. The number of exported cabinets has since continued to grow, and has spread to other countries including Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Korea and Indonesia.

Unlike the Asian versions however, the machine here is fully in Japanese, and shares features with the original JP version. It's considered as a separate game, so play records are not interchangeable between JP and this one. Online features such as the Donder Hiroba service and the Rewards Shop along with it, DonChare and the Ranking Dojo are also not available at the moment (though Namco claims to be working on it).

Banapassport compatibility is still there, and player data is tracked and stored in a separate server from the Japanese ones. As such, only the Don Points and Title unlocks (the unlockable stuff is there, but the titles cannot be set without the Donder Hiroba) are available for now. Interesting to note is that the Don Point unlocking trail is much, much longer than the JP Momoiro, giving out many costumes and Taiko sounds from the Rewards Shop which would otherwise be unavailable. As of April 2014, DonChare songs seem to be added on time too, after the one-month challenge period for each song is over.

Due to long-standing copyright issues which Namco are actively trying to resolve (and widely regarded as the main reason it took so long to export in the first place), many songs, especially licensed ones from J-Pop and Anime, are not in this particular build. The first online update on March 27, 2014 brought back a number of dropped licensed titles, and more are expected to arrive.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

With the placeholder name of 'Taiko no Tatsujin Original Soundtrack - March 2014', this is a Taiko soundtrack released on that month, with its full name being 'Taiko no Tatsujin Original Soundtrack' plus the names of the three songs in it. It's the first one to use a different publishing label as well (CLARICE DISC).

The CD features a trio of Namco Original songs introduced on Taiko no Tatsujin Momoiro Version, together with off-vocal versions of the songs and -for the first time- 'remixes' of the three tracks, featuring the songs together with the related Taiko Muzukashii and Oni notecharts played in the background. The first edition run of this mini-album come bundled with a promotional Don-Chan Coaster sticker, not available elsewhere.

Monday, February 24, 2014

A little extra surprise awaits players who have the godlike skills to clear Taiko Momoiro's 10 Dan challenge...a mini credits scene ending with a congratulatory note and thanks to the player for their support! It's less than a minute long since it's the arcade, but it's still very nice to see. Especially because 10 Dan involves Joubutsu 2000 again.

After this is Tatsujin level, which has an even crazier level of challenge!

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Coming from a publication which we still don't know of, is a list of Japan's most profitable arcade games in 2013. Though the industry is dwindling even there (Namco Bandai plans to close several of its arcades by March this year to downsize costs), the big winner last year is quite interesting.

Friday, February 21, 2014

Another pesky arcade glitch has required the Taiko Team to release yet another minor arcade update in order to fix the problem, which is today's focus of today's extra blog entry. This bug affected the recent Idolm@ster song Honey Heartbeat ～10 Stars Mix～, making impossible to select its Ura mode for playing even if it could be normally unlocked like the other Ura modes.

The small arcade update was already applied earlier this morning, under the name of Game Version 13.02.

Thursday, February 20, 2014

After two months of not featuring one of the lead notecharting members, we move back in form with an introduction to atsu.

Besides making Taiko charts (about one a month), atsu is also responsible for creating the song selection interface on the arcade and the cardboard decorations around the cabinet (also rallying to be a director for a console Taiko game!). He also does the collaboration efforts with other companies as well. His charts, naturally, are mainly from the Anime genre and collab songs.

Many of his creations are around the 8* Oni ballpark (still training to make good 10* ones).

Let's see what atsu has made so far!

Monster Hunter 3 (Tri) G Medley
atsu can be seen playing Monster Hunter 3G during his break time. The team decided that the biggest fan of Monster Hunter in the room should be the one responsible for its chart, much to his delight.

The mascot of 3G is the explosive Brachydios, so the chart is just as explosive with lots of powerful big notes. Boom! atsu recalls his experiences finding the best timing to roast Well-Done Steaks while making the end of the chart, and always had to turn up the volume (in Monster Hunter, an audio cue determines the quality of the steak you get).

Monster Hunter 4 Medley
atsu can be seen playing Monster Hunter 4 during his b(ry

The game has changed quite a lot in the transition to the 4th generation, so the chart style had to change as well. The main theme for MH4 plays in the back half, and the notes were designed carefully to draw out its most uplifting bits. It's new, so go play it!

Pokemon Black 2/White 2 Gym Battle Medley
This chart required a lot of thought, being a medley of many different tracks from the games. It is full of volume, with lots of notes, giving the tense atmosphere of a Gym Leader battle. Naturally the notecount for the Oni chart was 777 (for some reason).

Pokemon X/Y Wild Pokemon Battle Medley Pokemon X/Y Trainer Battle Medley
Two medleys, twice the headaches! They weren't made at the same time; the Wild Pokemon medley was done first (and released first too). Both are very different from each other, and the one on the arcade (Trainer Battle) was made slightly harder than its counterpart on Wii U. Kuboken, the charting team leader, rejected the plans for the Trainer Battle Medley about 10 times before it finally got the green light. It's hard getting that 8* feel right!

Houkago Stride
"Man that's a fast song!" was the first impression. It would have been a challenge if made normally, but the emphasis was on the positive feeling of the song so it was intentionally cut down (leaving players with a light and easy 5* Oni).

And then some conversation between atsu and Kuboken when he first joined the Notechart Ninjas.

atsu: I'll do my best! Taiko no Tatsujin is hard but so fun!
Kuboken: Welcome! Now go clear an 8* Oni.
atsu: Eh...
Kuboken: There is a Taiko in this room here. You can go play it if you want. Now, there's work to be done!
atsu: Eh...

Almost two years after the last physical Taiko soundtrack album (discounting the super-limited Sorairo soundtrack), a new mini-album will be released next month, simply called "Taiko no Tatsujin Original Soundtrack". Want to know about its content?

Monday, February 17, 2014

As you might already know, Mario Kart Arcade GP DX is going to be released in the United States this Winter, being -as such- one of the very few 'official' Taiko no Tatsujin cameos outside Japan, after the online dating sim Namco High.

With today's feature, we will explore the Taiko-themed aspects of the game once more, as well as the racing game itself's changes of the incoming United States version. Credit to mariowiki.com for the images below, from the Japanese version!

Sunday, February 16, 2014

The collaboration between Taiko no Tatsujin and the Puzzle & Dragons franchise does not stop at the hit iOS puzzler, and now extends to its first console game on 3DS! There's a lot in store for players on both sides.

Thursday, February 13, 2014

A quick one for this Thursday. While a lot of people in the world associate the day of tomorrow with the annual Valentine's Day event, for many Japanese companies focused on entertaining like Bandai Namco it's the opening day of the Japan Entertainment Expo's 2014 edition! The current Momoiro Version build for the latest Taiko arcade models will be made available for everyone to play with for free, together with other cabinets in the Bandai Namco booth.

This year's JAEPO will last two days (February 14th and 15th). Like in the past editions, only in the latter date it will be possible to access JAEPO for everyone, without being a share-holder businessman!

On this blog entry's closing lines, Etou mentions that another blog entry was supposed to be published today, but he had to pull it back for a later date due to schedule changes.

Sunday, February 9, 2014

From Momoiro Version 2.04 onwards, arcade Banapassport players are able to set titles for their personal nickname either with one of the titles previously unlocked by doing specific tasks (see more here) or by creating a new one by scratch by using specific title parts.

These title parts are basically divided into two different groups: nouns and phrases ('Group A') and symbols or connectives ('Group B'). Players can use up to 2 words from Group A and a symbol/connective from Group B to construct a custom title, following the scheme A-B-A. Any spot of said scheme can be left blank and the slots for Group A words can be filled with the same word.

While all the units from Group B are unlocked by default, players have to get the title parts from Group A through the rewards shop. Certain Group A parts can be unlocked only by achieving specific goals just like regular titles, whose unlocking requirements are explained into Momoiro Version's unlock page (link).

Friday, February 7, 2014

That evolution hint yesterday was no fluke; another big update is coming to Taiko Momoiro and it'll make the previous online features fully functional again, together with announcing some new songs, three of which will excite many fans!

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Footage of the goings-on in any gaming convention in Japan is hard to come by, but a reader in Japan named Sai Youcho sent this picture to me from the venue by email showing new Taiko toys to be released March this year.

The largest one on top is a light-up drum toy, where you hit the faces that light-up according to the song, and there are 15 in all! This will be released in late March.

The one on the bottom left is a drumroll game controlled with buttons and meant for two players. Challenge another family member to see who can drumroll the most times! The one on the bottom right, on the other hand, is some sort of balancing game where you stack plastic chips on top of a round Don-chan. Both come out in late April.

Monday, February 3, 2014

The title system was introduced by a firmware update in Taiko 0, and gives players with access to Banapassports nicknames to put beside their usernames while they play, as a mark of their in-game achievements, much like in other rhythm games with user profiles. The titles can be interchanged in Donder Hiroba when you have obtained them, and the one currently selected will display on the arcade screen wherever the player name is. Some titles unlock hidden content like songs and costumes.

It is possible to get more than one title in a go by overlapping the conditions for unlocking them. In addition, for newer players, Don Points (DP) will also be given out for titles they get.

Momoiro Version changes the title system by breaking them up into parts, so different parts can be pieces together for an even more unique title for yourself. Because of the change, some titles from previous firmware have been deleted, while others completely changed. Titles are also not numbered anymore.

Sunday, February 2, 2014

First Made By You of the year and we're clearing some backlog from last year's unfeatured maps! Rest assured, we notice (almost) every submission, and if you find yours not on this space, feel free to remind us at the end.